Touring by Mountain Bike

October 19, 1994

A wonderful one-day ride in the Buffalo River country. I drove over to Tyler Bend Campground on a Wednesday to ride a circuit recommended in the book Mountain Bike Routes of the Ozarks.

On arriving at the campground, I pitched camp and then headed out for a short hike before nightfall. A light rain began as I entered the forest, hiking along the Spring Hollow Trail and came out at the Sod Collier homestead just as the rain stopped. A rainbow appeared in the east and, somehow, the old homestead seemed to be young again.

The house was a dog-trot that had been closed in. The kitchen and fireplace were in the center. A picket fence surrounds the house and an outbuilding. Inside the house, tatters of newspaper and magazines still clung to the walls, the last remains of a dubious insulation. The papers included the weekly Kansas City Star, circa 1930s.

A path led to a crib down the way and then on to the River View Trail and Collier Bluff. Along the way, I scared up several wild turkeys, which went scurrying and fluttering through the forest. At the river view, I could see downstream to Tyler Bluff, upstream to the confluence of Calf Creek and far upstream to Fish Trap Bluff.

The canopy of sycamores, sweet gums and cottonwoods were turning yellow and gold. Below, the river ran slow after a long dry spell.

On the walk back, rain kicked up again and I stopped at the visitor center to stand under a big oak tree and escape the rain. The visitor center was already closed. Acorns plodded down each time the wind picked up. Another rainbow appeared just as the sun began setting.

During the night, a full moon slipped out from between the clouds until about 2 in the morning. When rain returned and I fell asleep soundly.

Notes about this weekend's ride are continued at Calf Creek, Dogtrots and Snowball.